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Monday January 30, 2006
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 I am still weeding through my photos and research from CES and today I came across this shot of the upcoming Reader from Sony. Sony showed it on the show floor and I can't wait to get one in-house for testing. No word on pricing yet, but it is due to launch in the first quarter of this year. Measuring 6.9” by 4.9” by .5”, it is the best form factor I have seen yet. It weighs less than nine ounces and comes with an SD card slot.
The Reader doesn't have a conventional display, which would require constant power, but instead uses what the company calls electronic paper--once the page is drawn it requires no energy to keep it shown. The text is clear, sharp, and very readable. Although it only supports black and white right now, it can display photos and drawings. Sony is promoting how easy it will be to buy ebooks from its Sony Connect service, and that is all well and good. To my surprise, however, you will also be able to read any unprotected PDF or eBook file on the Reader as well. For Sony, this is very open-minded. Best of all, the Reader isn't just for ebooks. Dock it with you PC and it will collect stories from your favorite Web sites via RSS feeds. Now that is pretty close to a killer app.
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January 31, 2006 11:42 AM
If it would allow me to take hand-written notes with a stylus and download them to my laptop after the meeting, then it would a killer app.
January 31, 2006 12:46 PM
So, does it report back to Sony Connect on what books I've read?
January 31, 2006 1:36 PM
..I will have to check that out when I test it. My bet is that it will do the same profiling that most online content delivery services do in order to target your shopping interests better. But even that should be limited to what you buy from Sony.
January 31, 2006 4:34 PM
Looks interesting. But I would rather wait when they release a color version. Any idea when that might be?
January 31, 2006 4:45 PM
It would be great if Sony sold newspaper subscriptions in a format easily readable on the Reader. RSS feeds are ok, but I'd like to read a digital copy of the actual newspaper (in original layout) with links to enlarged versions of the articles (given screen size). I may have to wait for Phillips to release their iRex Iliad which is often pictured with a digital newspaper. See here: http://peterwright.blogspot.com/2005/12/philips-announce-irex-iliad.html
January 31, 2006 9:23 PM
Color may be a way off - I don't see anything on E-Ink's web site about color. If the device doesn't work for you without color, be prepared to wait a few years at least. One good thing is that the Sony website says this thing actually can use SD cards (to me, that's the most shocking thing possible - Sony admitting that a Memory Stick isn't the be-all and end-all of removable flash?) On the other hand, PDFs, web sites, etc still have to be converted to Sony's format before they will work on the device. So it's not like you can just drop a bunch of HTML on an SD card and go - you have to take a trip through the Sony app. On the other hand, there was apparently some success with getting content onto a Libre without the Sony app, so perhaps the same is possible here. VERY interesting. Love to see how this plays out.
February 2, 2006 5:45 PM
it's about time anyone who has ever owned an ebook knows how handy and convenient they are so far it has been a dying art with gemstar giving up to soon. ebooks are all over europe its about time someone woke up! congrats to sony
February 4, 2006 11:27 AM
One of my clients is a public library that uses a download site reqiuring Adobe's implementation of DRM. Will this device do that? No info at Sony's site.